Boyer's Conwell Dance Theater wins Best Dance Studio Of The Decade

January 14
We are honored to have won Best Dance Studio Of The Decade in the 2020 BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Awards! We are also pleased to announce that Temple Theaters won Production Of A Play Of The Decade for their 2019 production of Men On Boats.Winners have been announced for the 2020 BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Awards - which were back bigger than ever, celebrating the best in local theatre of the past decade! The public submitted the nominees and voted for their favorites. Check out the results below! The 2020 BroadwayWorld Regional Awards are presented by TodayTix. Community...

Just 3 Weeks To Vote For The 2020 BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Awards!

December 10
There's just three short weeks left to vote for the BroadwayWorld Philadelphia Awards - which are back bigger than ever, celebrating the best in local theatre of the past decade! Check out the local nominees, cast your vote, and support live theatre entertainment in Philadelphia!The 2020 BroadwayWorld Regional Awards are presented by TodayTix.Community theatre productions, student productions, and college productions are all included! (Please check respective category rules.) Eligibility is for productions which opened between 2011 and September 30th, 2020.Voting will run...

Covid Sessions: A Social Call named WRTI's Jazz Album of the Week

November 23
November 23, 2020. Imagine deconstructing an award-winning 21-piece band, scattering its members not just across the Delaware Valley but the country, having each instrumentalist record his/her parts individually, and then taking each of those individually recorded parts and surgically stitching it all back together to make it sound like the entire band was recorded in the same place, at the same time.That's what John Harris and David Pasbrig, faculty in Temple's music technology program, were tasked with doing in order to make the latest from the Temple University Jazz Band,...

WRTI's Hometown Heroes: Spotlight on Trumpeter Terrell Stafford

November 20
Trumpeter Terell Stafford has been hailed as "one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player" by the late piano legend McCoy Tyner. The acclaimed bandleader and recording artist has appeared on dozens of albums, including five of his own, and is a soloist with the Grammy-winning Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.Born in Miami and raised in both Chicago and Silver Spring, Maryland, Stafford recalled being transfixed when at age nine he happened upon a trumpet while visiting his grandparents' sharecropper's farm."To just hold this instrument in my hand because I...

Dr. Emiliano Pardo-Tristán wins the "Ricardo Miró National Literary Contest"

November 10
Congratulations to Dr. Emiliano Pardo-Tristán, adjunct professor at Boyer College of Music and Dance, who has won the most prestigious prize in literature in his native Panama, the Ricardo Miró National Literary Contest. The novel, "Lo blanco y lo negro", was chosen unanimously among 48 novels, by a distinguished jury. Sergio Ramírez, the 2017 winner of the prestigious Cervantes Prize in Spanish Literature, read the jury criterion: "... the novel is a brilliant exploration of the Caribbean world, seen through popular music, its warmth, color and rhythms, [...] With excellent...

Jazz Educators Step Up to Face COVID-19’s Challenges

October 19
In late August, members of the Temple University Jazz Band rehearsed on stage in Philadelphia for the first time since COVID-19 separated them in March. But they still weren't quite together. A series of giant plexiglass screens on rollers, spaced six feet apart, isolated the 21 musicians from each other and their leader, trumpeter Terell Stafford. Even before the music started, there were more reminders of the risks of playing in a group. Stafford, face mask firmly in place, checked with the horn section to ensure they had the proper bell coverings and filters needed to keep...

Dr. Emiliano Pardo-Tristán wins the "Roque Cordero Third National Composition Competition”

October 19
Dr. Emiliano Pardo-Tristán, adjunct professor at Boyer College of Music and Dance, has, for the second time, won the "Roque Cordero Musical Composition Competition." Pardo-Tristán won in the solo music category, with the guitar piece "Sonata en Azul," in three movements: I. Índigo; II. Lapizlázuli; and III. Zarco. Dr. Pardo-Tristán also got an Honorable Mention in the Symphonic Band category, for his work "1989 (Memories of the Invasion)."

Noriko Manabe Appointed AMS Treasurer

by Boyer College
October 05
The AMS Board of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of Noriko Manabe to the role of AMS Treasurer. Noriko Manabe has an M.B.A. from Stanford, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst with 18 years' experience in the investment industry, including stints as a ranked analyst in Institutional Investor while at JP Morgan, a top-ranked institutional salesperson in the Greenwich survey while at Morgan Stanley, and in portfolio management. During this time, she also held management positions in which she was responsible for the strategy and budgeting of units.  Prior to...

Implementing music therapy through telehealth: considerations for military populations

by Boyer College
July 01
Telehealth provides psychotherapeutic interventions and psychoeducation for remote populations with limited access to in-person behavioural health and/or rehabilitation treatment. The United States Department of Défense and the Veterans Health Administration use telehealth to deliver primary care, medication management, and services including physical, occupational, and speech-language therapies for service members, veterans, and eligible dependents. While creative arts therapies are included in telehealth programming, the existing evidence base focuses on art therapy and dance...

A Note From Dean Stroker Regarding Anti-Racism and Social Justice

by Robert Stroker
June 18
To the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts Community:As our nation has been shaken by the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, we are awakened to and yet again reminded of the history of racial discrimination against Black Americans and other persons of color in this country. The CPCA believes that Black lives matter, and stands firmly against racism and all forms of hate speech, harassment, and discrimination. As part of the Center's core mission, we strive to provide an inclusive educational community that honors the...

Boyer College Mourns the Loss of Alan Abel, 1928 - 2020

by Boyer College
April 27
Boyer College is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Alan Abel, a beloved and longtime member of Boyer's percussion faculty. Alan passed away on April 25, 2020 due to complications from the coronavirus. He was a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra for nearly 40 years, from 1959-1998, and was formerly on the faculties of University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, Catholic University of America, Glassboro State College, The New School of Music, and Settlement Music School. Though this is a tremendous loss, our students, faculty and staff are grateful to have had...

Mourning the Loss of Joy Abbott, 1931 - 2020

by Boyer College
February 11
It is with deep sadness we relate that one of our most luminous shining stars, Joy Valderrama Abbott (EDU '52), passed away this past weekend, Saturday, February 8th, 2020 at the age of 88. Joy was truly a legend of musical theater, an ebullient presence with a zeal for life and passion for the arts. Her caring and enthusiasm was beyond measure, living a vital life full of kindness and an honest appreciation for the needs of others. In addition, she was known for fostering and curating of the legacy of her late husband, musical theater innovator, George Abbott. She will be...

Temple University Jazz Band Wins First-Place Prize at the Inaugural Jack Rudin Jazz Championship

by Boyer College
January 20
The Boyer College of Music and Dance's Temple University Jazz Band, directed by Terell Stafford, placed first at the Inaugural Jack Rudin Jazz Championship. Held on January 18-19 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, the Jazz Band was selected to participate as one of the top ten jazz programs in the country. In addition to the Jazz Band's first-place award, the ensemble received accolades for Outstanding Rhythm Section, Outstanding Trombone Section and Outstanding Trumpet Section, with Dylan Band earning Outstanding Tenor Saxophone, and Fareed Simpson-Hankins earning...

BCM&D Records Receives 4th and 5th Grammy Nominations

by Boyer College
November 11
The Boyer College of Music and Dance's record label, BCM&D Records, received its fourth and fifth Grammy nominations this morning for "Love, A Beautiful Force," one of three movements from "Constant Renaissance" by six-time Grammy winning composer/arranger, Vince Mendoza. The Temple University Studio Orchestra recorded the work which also features Terell Stafford (trumpet) and Dick Oatts (alto saxophone).  "Receiving our fourth and fifth Grammy nominations is a tremendous testament to the talent and quality of our students," said Dr. Robert T. Stroker, dean and vice...

Reflection:Response Choreographic Commission

by Boyer College
September 03
The Reflection:Response Commission invites choreographers to consider as a starting point how we 'reflect' and 'respond' through different kinds of embodiment: the experiential body, the choreographic body and the activist body. The commission includes a cash award of $5,000, access to rehearsal space throughout summer, and the production of the new work in Temple's Conwell Dance Theater. 2019 - Marion Ramirez  Internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer, Marion Ramírez, will create Knots and Nests, an improvisational performance project for people of all ages...

Dean Emerita Helen Laird 1926 - 2018

by Robert Stroker
October 27
Message from Dr. Robert T. Stroker, Dean and Vice Provost for the Arts Dear Friends and Colleagues, It is with great sadness that I share the news of Dean Emerita Helen Laird's passing. Dean Laird, who led the college from 1978 to 1993, passed away yesterday at 92 years of age.  Dean Laird was a beloved member of the Boyer family. An extremely influential dean, she was responsible for expanding our instrumental programs through the merger with the New School of Music, adding new undergraduate and graduate programs, building our opera program to national renown,...

Summer/Fall 2018 Boyer Faculty News

by Boyer College
August 01
LAMBERT ORKIS (Keyboard Studies)August - Recording released by Deutsche Grammophon:  Hommage à Penderecki (2 discs).  On this recording,  Orkis performs with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter Krzysztof Penderecki's Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano. Also, Orkis performs in concerts as principal keyboard of the National Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. September through December of this year. SARA DAVIS BUECHNER (Keyboard Studies) performed recitals and chamber music, and gave master classes, at a number of important music festivals this summer -- at the Edmonton...

Department of Dance, Institute of Dance Scholarship, 2018 Reflection:Response Commission presents Awilda Sterling Duprey’s Lacks Criticality

by Boyer College
August 01
Contact: Merián Soto, Curator, Reflection/Response Choreographic Commission The Temple University Department of Dance, Institute for Dance Scholarship, is delighted to present the seventh Reflection:Response Choreographic Commission, Lacks Criticality, by award winning choreographer and Master Artist, Awilda Sterling Duprey.Performances will take place in Temple University's Conwell Dance Theater,on Friday and Saturday, September 21 and 22, at 7:30 PM.  In addition, Sterling Duprey will conduct a public workshop on Orisha abstractions in popular dance, presented in...